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stinky recycle clay

updated sat 24 aug 02

 

Jose A. Velez on mon 19 aug 02


Gentlepersons:

I have been throwing a mid-range porcelain and saving scraps in a 5 =
Gals. pail. Recently I started using the recycled clay. I left my =
throwing bucket with slip for a few days and when I went back there was =
quite a stench, rotten. It is the first time I experience this. What =
is going on? Any suggestions on how to avoid?

The stench was so bad that I am proposing a new PPA rule. "Thou shall =
not throw with stinky, recycled clay/slip", I mean it is simply =
"uncivilized".

Jose A. Velez
Best regards from beautiful Luling, Louisiana where at sunset a big red =
disk fired in reduction sinks slowly over the horizon and charitable =
mosquitoes come out to share the Nile virus.

Jeff Tsai on mon 19 aug 02


Stinky recycle clay has occurred to me many times. I've never had a problem
with the clay itself due to this stinkiness and am not totally sure what is
causing it, but it smells like mold to me, which has never effected the final
outcome of the work.

-jeff

Rebecca P on mon 19 aug 02



Mold it is - it rattled me the first time I encountered it.  I thought I had done something wrong.  There is no reason not to use it, unless, of course, you mind the smell terribly.


Rebecca Pierre


Oak Island, NC



>From: Jeff Tsai
>Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
>To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>Subject: Re: Stinky Recycle Clay
>Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 19:03:50 EDT
>
>Stinky recycle clay has occurred to me many times. I've never had a problem
>with the clay itself due to this stinkiness and am not totally sure what is
>causing it, but it smells like mold to me, which has never effected the final
>outcome of the work.
>
>-jeff
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.


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Chris Jones on tue 20 aug 02


For those of you who dislike the stink, try some Listerine in the mix. I =
sometimes use that in my throwing water to avoid the stinks there and =
thus it goes into the recycle already.
C. Jones
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Rebecca P=20
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG=20
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 10:10 PM
Subject: Re: Stinky Recycle Clay


Mold it is - it rattled me the first time I encountered it. I thought =
I had done something wrong. There is no reason not to use it, unless, =
of course, you mind the smell terribly.

Rebecca Pierre

Oak Island, NC



>From: Jeff Tsai=20
>Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List=20
>To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG=20
>Subject: Re: Stinky Recycle Clay=20
>Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 19:03:50 EDT=20
>=20
>Stinky recycle clay has occurred to me many times. I've never had a =
problem=20
>with the clay itself due to this stinkiness and am not totally sure =
what is=20
>causing it, but it smells like mold to me, which has never effected =
the final=20
>outcome of the work.=20
>=20
>-jeff=20
>=20
=
>________________________________________________________________________=
______=20
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org=20
>=20
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription =

>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/=20
>=20
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at =
melpots@pclink.com.=20


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_____ Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org You may look at the =
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Martin Howard on tue 20 aug 02


Just been getting some smelly recycle clay.
But the reason was simple.

The plumbing to my undersink catch bin was such that some back flow from the
upstairs loo was able to get into it!!

Mixed with other clays it is OK and the smell has gone, or I've got used to
it.

Martin Howard
Webbs Cottage Pottery
Woolpits Road, Great Saling
BRAINTREE, Essex CM7 5DZ
01371 850 423
martin@webbscottage.co.uk
http://www.webbscottage.co.uk
Updated 6th July 2002

Cheryl Hoffman on tue 20 aug 02


Nature is pretty smart about stuff like this...a bad smell is usually
a warning! No expert here, but I'd take a guess that your problem is mold.
And no, it's not harmless. I recently had to go through a series of over 300
needle sticks (in two sessions) to find out what was making me so ill. MOLD,
MOLD, MOLD! I don't know if mold is just getting more press time lately but
it seems to be effecting more and more people adversely.
I had three choices: weekly allergy shots for 5 years (if you miss a
week, back to square one); take medication that either put me to sleep or
put me on the roof; get rid of the mold.
Luckily, it's not hard to get rid of the mold, as long as it's not
under the floors or in the walls, or some other hidden spot. For me, it was
just a matter of adding a capful of chlorine bleach to my buckets of
slip/clay scraps and my throwing water. Since I have an open-air studio (a
nice way of saying that I throw in a broken-down shack that no longer has
windows), 10 feet away from a cypress bayhead (for you Northerners, that's a
swamp), I try to keep fans on to get the air moving and make some attempt to
dry things out.
My most favorite clay, P10 by Highwater, comes to me peppered with
black mold in the bag. I open only one bag at a time, covering the clay with
a cloth that I spray with a strong bleach solution. Seems to work for me and
I haven't noticed any difference in throwing, glazing, or firing.
Have a great day, everyone,
Cher Hoffman

Rick Hugel on tue 20 aug 02


Try this. Take a coil of of the "rotten" porcelain and a coil of the
porcelain you usually use and bend them in half. You may find that the
"rotten" porcelain doesn't show signs of cracking. If so this may mean you
have a porcelain with smaller particles which is more elastic.


>Gentlepersons:
>
>I have been throwing a mid-range porcelain and saving scraps in a 5 Gals.
>pail. Recently I started using the recycled clay. I left my throwing
>bucket with slip for a few days and when I went back there was quite a
>stench, rotten. It is the first time I experience this. What is going
>on? Any suggestions on how to avoid?
>
>The stench was so bad that I am proposing a new PPA rule. "Thou shall not
>throw with stinky, recycled clay/slip", I mean it is simply "uncivilized".
>
>Jose A. Velez
>Best regards from beautiful Luling, Louisiana where at sunset a big red
>disk fired in reduction sinks slowly over the horizon and charitable
>mosquitoes come out to share the Nile virus.
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.

Snail Scott on fri 23 aug 02


At 04:04 PM 8/21/02 +0930, you wrote:
>When reclaiming clay, adding any form of bactericide seems to be counter
productive to applying the notion that organic souring improves plasticity.


But surely once the process has run long enough to
modify the clay, it would be OK to 'clean it up'.
That wouldn't change the plasticity, just the smell
and maybe the allergens, right?

-Snail